May 26
Good Deal… or bad deal!!
Jeremy Cato, in last Thursday’s Gloge and Mail blatantly advocates “seven top luxury buys for less than $36,000″
He goes on to identify the $32,000 TSX, $35,900 BMW323i, Lexus IS250 at 31,900 ( same price as the US-for “those of you that cross-border shop on pricing”)
But has Jeremy really put together a sound unbiased piece of reporting?? Do you associate cloth seats with luxury??
We beg to differ and so do the many folks that commented on the article.
He appears to be comparing apples to oranges and has really failed to do his due diligence. Is it true he that with all the shakeups and downsizing in the media that he might be working overtime for the Car Manufacturers??
Please enjoy the article, but more importantly check out the comments, most readers are not stupid!
May 26th, 2008 at 11:35 am
“There are tons of deals on these [cars],” says Paul Timoteo, president of the online pricing service http://www.carcostcanada.com.
“Considering that over 60 per cent of cars in the $35,000 to $50,000 price range are leased, the people need to do their homework.
“As always, most of the really good deals tend to not be advertised, but of course you’ll see them in our reports. The devil’s in the details
every time.”
CarCostCanada provides pricing details and incentive information for a fee — five vehicle reports for $39.95.
Consumer Reports also sells pricing information (www.consumerreports.org), as does the Automobile Protection Association
(www.apa.ca).
This just begs the question….why are the deals hidden? In fact, why should consumers pay a third party to explore manufacturer deals? What, if anything, do the manufacturers get out of this method of disclosure? Yes, perhaps Canadian prices are dropping, but must we continue to jump so many hoops?
May 26th, 2008 at 1:42 pm
Mr. Cato has done Canadians a disservice.
Prices are not only higher in Canada but some vehicles are determined at the sole discretion of the manufacturers not to comply with Canadian safety standards and not be importable simply to protect the premium that they extract from Canadians.
Premiums…about $30,000 on a Corvette Z06 (2008’s and 2009’s are not importable).
For those that are importable, the manufacturers ensure that the prices are appropriatly higher for the Canadian buyer…. Canada to USA - Honda Civic - 13% to 25%; Chevrolet Impala – 14% to 25%; Ford Mustang – from 19% to 31%. Source: http://www.ataleoftwoprices.com.). These higher prices result in Canadians being less able to afford newer safer, more fuel efficient vehicles.
Americans get benefiial financing and even greater incentives. In addition their destination charges are considerably less than those charged to Canadians even though the car is built in Canada.
The automotive journalists provide support for the advertising departments of the newspapers for whom they work. The are courted by the auto manufacturers and as such are inclined to look favourably on the products of a corporation that just paid for the journalist to test drive their fleet of high end vehicles which Cato discusses.
Why expect any different story from an automotive reporter? Unfortunately, too many people believe this propaganda.
May 26th, 2008 at 1:47 pm
A few points that I missed:
While GM claims the 08 Corvette Z06’s are different from the ‘07 which was importable, they have failed to advise what the differences are and Transport Canada does nothing about it….their right to audit???? They probably will say they don’t have the staff to do any audits. But they have lots of staff to create more barriers to trade by deharmonizing Canadian safety and environmental standards.
All American cars have tire pressure monitoring systems….what adjustment did Mr. Cato make for that cost to put tire pressure monitoring sensors on Canadian cars.
May 26th, 2008 at 2:38 pm
re: Cato’s prices on Lexus IS 250 rwd. Following data is from Lexus.ca and
Lexus.com (USA)
USA: basic price $32025, + delivery $765 =32,790. Price includes automatic trans
mission, leather seats, driver and passenger pwr seats, moon roof.
Lexus Canada Automatic transmition caris 33600, + delivery, 1780, + leather and moon
roof pkge of $5130 totals $38,810.
Still $6,000 more in Canada. Check what equipment was included last year with the
IS 250.
May 26th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
As a matter of interest, the Lexus dealer I visited on route 17 North in New Jersey
sells about 7000 (seven thousand) cars per year. The Montreal suburb Lexus dealer I
visited sells 400 cars per year. Do you think one of them might be able to negotiate
a better price than the other. I wonder how many Lexus are sold in a year in all of Canada?
May 27th, 2008 at 8:24 am
Good morning! Here is an article from Auto Remarketing in the U.S. It describes new incentives for trucks and SUVs. http://www.autoremarketing.com/ar/news/story.html?id=7902
I wonder how Canadian dealers compare?
Have a good one, eh!
May 27th, 2008 at 5:14 pm
Speaking of Lexus - during my last trip to FLorida 2 weeks ago - I was amazed at the number of Lexus’ on the road - no wonder at the price they are selling in the USA - more can afford such a fine car.